Private Tales Sinking Feeling

[Kaius]

Kaius pulled himself to his feet and followed the sound of Arwyl's voice, the sound of scuffle, of a strangled word. He ran, blindly, his heart thudding hard against his ribs. "Hold on!" he barked, his eyes frantically searching through the fog for signs of movement. More shadows darted passed him but he continued toward the scuffling sound until finally he saw it.

The creature didn't make a sound as Kai's axe took it's head clean off in one cleave of his axe, a boot kicking the rest of the corpse off of the prince and a hand gripping him by the shoulder to yank him back to his feet. "Move. Find a door."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Fucking hell!" spat Arwyl.

He was entirely grateful for being saved, but disgfusted at being covered in the Vampire's blood. He wasn't known for being squeamish, but with such filthy creatures he didn't know if the blood could infect him. He wiped away as much from his mouth as he could.

He brushed up against a wall, trying every door in turn until one opened. An empty, two-story house. It looked as if no one was living here.

"I'm of the opinion that this isn't our problem and we fuck off at dawn?"

A wail cut through the night. An inhuman, keening sound. Anguish.

"Is there a lock on that door?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius kept his senses attuned to his surroundings as much as he possibly could. The creatures' movements like gusts of cold wind rather than footsteps. A chill rushed over his spine and he shuddered as he shut the door behind them.

"Aye. Fuck this." he answered with a growl and snapped his attention to the window as the wailing sound assaulted his ears. He glanced to the door at Arwyl's question and his head shook. There was nothing to bar it with either, and so Kaius pressed his back against it and slid to the floor.

"Go see if there's a back way out of here. If they get in I'll hold them off and you run, got it?.." he said, it wasn't a question.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Oh we're back to sacrificing yourself for the greater good again are we?" Arwyl whispered harshly with a shake of his head.

He looked towards the door as the sounds continued beyond. They were not happy and he assumed that was because of the vampires they had just killed.

As he turned away there was a thud from above. It sounded like something striking the roof.

Arwyl froze. He turned to Kaius and lifted a finger to his lips. He tried to hold his breath. The wailing had stopped. There was just the sound of something moving over the tiles above.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius' green eyes rolled and his head shook at the Prince's answer. "Back to? The deal has never changed lad." he growled quietly. "Besides I don't intend on letting these fuckers kill me." his brow knit, listening to the sounds from outside.

The thud from above caused his gaze to snap toward the ceiling. He remained as silent as Arwyl did, his fingers tightening on his weapons. The sound seemed to scurry, dust loosing and falling to the floor. He watched it fall and looked to Arwyl. The movement stopped and silence fell for long enough that he let out a breath of relief.

He'd been about to open his mouth to speak when a section of the thatched roof above caved in, and a wailing vampire with it.

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"I guess being quiet..." Arwyl hissed as he darted forwards, "...isn't going to help."

The silvery blade skewered the vampire. Arwyl darted back. The beast struggled against the blade for a few seconds before realising it was dead. The blade, a crack in magic itself, finally shattered when Arwyl released his concentration.

It wasn't a flashy magic. Something more destructive would have been useful now. It was his family's and he didn't even know if a single other soul left on Arethil could use it.

"Do you think you'd be more crotchety if you came back as one of them?"

 

[Kaius]

Kaius shielded his face from the debris of the caving roof and stepped back. The vampire had come straight at him, already at arm's length before he could lift his weapon and he blinked as Arwyl's spirit glass blade ran it through and he let out a breath of relief. Perhaps he was getting old.

"Crotchety?" Kaius repeated indignantly with a snort. "Think you'd come back more of a smug little shit?" he grumbled, looking toward the hole in the thatched roof as the sound of screeching filled the night air in echo of the creature that'd just died on Arwyl's blade.

"Think we need to go."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Think?" he asked, even as he rushed to the back of the building to find a door. He tensed, half expected to feel Kaius' hand across the back of his head.

It all felt a manic rush of chaos and confusion. The adrenaline wasn't pushing the drunken haze away and he struggled to make sense of the madness.

He forced open the door, but made a noise of surprise and came to a halt just beyond it. Somehow they had ended up close to the river. There was a jetty just twenty paces ahead of them.

"I'd keep you on a silver chain as a pet. I'd call you Old Man Bitey....

"...fuck where do we go? "

 

[Kaius]

Kaius growled and shoved an elbow at Arwyl's ribs. "Cheeky little bastard.." he huffed.

"Back to the fuckin' tavern that we left in the first place. I need another drink after this shit." he grumbled with a snort and turned around, unable to see more than a few feet in either direction. Kaius wiped his brow against his shoulder and gripped his weapons.

He turned toward the sound of screeching and human screams which quickly died out.. "Ah fuck it." he spat, and strode off in the direction.

"Least kills gets the next round in."

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"Well I'm already on...six..." Arwyl lied.

"Where are you even going now?" Arwyl asked. "Oh, the screaming."

He wished he could sober himself up with a few magic words. Arwyl felt that if he could just sober up he wouldn't be so disoriented. He was entirely wrong. He didn't know the city well and the thick fog left the river as the only landmark he could mentally map out.

"The screaming stopped quicky," he hissed quietly.

He thought he'd said it quietly. He was almost shouting.

 

[Kaius]

Kaius snorted. "Six my arse." his head shook, and he paused as everything went silent again...Everything other than Arwyl, that was.

"SSSHHHHHhhhhHHHHhhhhh." he answered just as loudly as Arwyl, and turned just in time to see one of the creatures running straight at him, it's screech tearing into his ears like claws.

"Ah fuck!" he yelled in fright and cleaved the creature's skull.

"On your left!" he shoved at Arwyl as another came racing at him. "Stinkin' bastards!"

 

[Arwyl Minras]

"I fucking hate vampires," he groaned. Arwyl was started to lose focus on his magic. It was a precise art, not helped by exhaustion or being drunk.

By the time he summoned a full longsword worth of spirit glass the demon was almost upon him.

He swung downwards, missing his aim but severing the vampire's arm just behind the hand.

"Not our fucking problem!"

He swung again, driving the stump-cradling beast back.

"Maybe we get a boat and row out of here!"